To Love a Rose
by KATTALNUVA
Summary: Sequel to Rose and The Masked Alchemist. While Nick is off another mission, Rose begins to question the nature of their relationship, when the unexpected happens. Just couldn't get it out of my head.
1. The Lovers

It was a bright sunny afternoon in Reole. Rose Thomas couldn't help but think about how far the city had come since the days of Cornello. She was on her way home from work, when suddenly she was pulled into a nearby alley. Before she could scream she felt a person's lips locking with her own. She opened her eyes and saw that it was Nick Ripley, the Masked Alchemist.

"Nick?"

Not long after Reole was visited by the Elric brothers, the city erupted into a civil war between Cornello's followers, and those that had deserted the order. This compounded with Rose's own grief at the knowledge that Cornello's promises had been false, and that she was never going to see her boyfriend ever again. She wanted to end it all, but couldn't find the courage to do so. Since she was unable to take her own life, she resolved to let nature do it for her, so she walked naked into the eastern desert that separated Amestris from Xing. She kept walking until she passed out. When she woke up she found herself in the custody of the infamous bounty hunter known as the Masked Alchemist. Not willing to let her just throw her life away, the Masked Alchemist dragged her across the desert and into Xing while he pursued a fugitive that turned out to be a human chimera. During that time Rose figured the Masked Alchemist to be a bitter middle-aged man, but during the fight with the chimera he lost his mask, and it turned out that he wasn't much older than she was. Along the way Rose had time to reflect on all the things in life she still wanted to do, if not for Nick she wouldn't have lived to do those things, that combined with his surprisingly good looks was probably why she had sex with him when he was escorting her back to Reole. Ever since then he always dropped by once in a while o he and Rose could fool around, but he usually gave her a bit more warning than this."

"Sorry, but we don't have much time, and I couldn't wait for you to get home. We're going to have to do it right here."

"What?"

Before Rose could protest, he kissed her hard on the mouth. It had been some time since their last "session", and so she began to melt in his arms, then she felt one of his hands reaching into her shirt and the other reaching up under her skirt. Her heart started racing and every single nerve of her body was burning with energy.

"No! We can't do this here."

"Why not?"

"Someone might see us."

"So?"

Whenever Rose and Nick fooled around it was always behind closed doors, they had never done anything like this.

"I don't want to be seen by anyone but you."

"But you're easily the most beautiful woman in town, and I kinda want to show off."

Rose almost screamed as she felt his fingers dig deeper into her, but he muffled it with another kiss.

"If you don't want us to be discovered you should try and keep it down."

He lifted up her shirt and began to suckle on her breasts. Being an experience bounty hunter, Nick knew how to read people, and he could tell that despite her protests Rose was actually enjoying this.

"_Oh my god… I'm really going to be seen."_

Without warning Nick lifted Rose off the ground, held her up against the wall, and she felt him inside of her. It could be that it had been nearly a month since the last time, or maybe it was because she was terrified of getting caught, but for some reason it felt better than usual.

"_I really wish I wasn't so pressed for time."_

He thrust himself deeper and deeper inside of her until they both collapsed to the ground from pleasure.

"You sick perverted pig…" said Rose still smiling with her face vividly pink "If you're going to do something like that to a girl you should at least buy her dinner first."

"I'd love to, but unfortunately I need to leave for another assignment."

"What, the last bounty wasn't big enough for you?"

"You know I don't do this for the money."

"I don't want you to go…"

"I promise I'll make it up to you. When I get back I'll take you to dinner and a show."

He gave her one last kiss and was off.

Rose walked the rest of the way home with her face all pink and looking positively euphoric. One person she passed along the way home asked if she had a fever, and another asked her if she had been drinking. Not too long ago she wanted to die, but on days like this she was glad to be alive. She had never done things like this with her late boyfriend, and no matter how fast things seemed to be happening with Nick, somehow that night at the hotel on the way back to Reole from Central just felt so right.

"_He was the first man to see me naked… which is really my fault to begin with… If I hadn't been in that desert I might've never met him."_

When Rose got home she found a bouquet of flowers waiting for her with a card attached.

**Sorry I couldn't stay longer.**

**(To be continued)**


	2. Surprise

Rose's relationship with Nick had done wonders for her; it was clearly visible to the rest of Reole. But whenever she woke up in the morning she wished that he was there beside her. As she got out of bed she noticed the picture of her and Cain. The relationship she had with him was very different than the one she had with Nick. They had known each other for years, they were in love, and were going to be married. Rose knew from the moment Cain proposed that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, but then he was taken from her. Nick had stopped Rose from throwing her life away, and then she had sex with him.

"Why did I do it?"

As Rose took her shower she thought long and hard about it. When she first met Nick she wanted to die and he had been the person that stopped her from doing it, it was made even more complicated by the fact that he had been the first man to see her naked, even if it was entirely her fault that had happened. Nick hadn't even been the one who instigated their sexual relationship. She had just had her first shower in days, she was wearing nothing but a robe, and Nick had just looked so handsome now that she had finally seen his face. It just happened. Losing your virginity does things to you, once you had tasted the sweet nectar you just want more and more. Unfortunately for Rose, Nick had lost his parents at a very young age and felt like he had this responsibility to bring people like his parent's murderer to justice, but the law doesn't always get the job done, so he hunted criminals as the Masked Alchemist. For this reason he was always off on jobs, sometimes Rose would go a whole month or two without seeing him.

"_Am I really in love with him?" _thought Rose as the water trickled down her naked body _"Does he really love me?"_

Ever since Roses' first time with Nick she felt like there was this invisible link between them. She thought about him almost all the time, much as she had done with Cain. She worried about him whenever he was gone on his assignments and was glad whenever he came back safely. But did he feel the same way about her, or was she just his plaything? These questions continued to haunt her for the next several weeks.

One day she woke up feeling very sick to her stomach. She also felt really exhausted even after getting a good night's sleep. After missing two days of work she was escorted to the doctor, where she received the most shocking news of her life.

"Congratulations Miss Thomas. You're pregnant."

"Oh my…"

Rose knew she had to speak to Nick immediately, but she didn't know where he was, and for her own safety he never contacted her when he was on a mission. On the plus side she had time to think about what she was going to say to him. If what Nick said was true he certainly had the means to raise the child, the trick was going to be convincing him to give up his crusade against criminals.

"_What if he says our relationship has only ever been about sex?"_

Rose felt like getting a drink, but then she remembered the baby, so she just took a bath and went to bed instead. It was very hot this time of year in Reole. As she lay in bed it made her think of the first time she and Nick had met. After passing out in the desert she woke up in a tub full of ice cold water inside a makeshift shelter he had made using his alchemy. When she attempted to run he used his alchemy to anchor her to the ground with blocks of ice. He then treated the burns all across her body.

"_You're just very lucky that the first person to find you hadn't been a real pervert, I shudder to think what would have happened then."_

_"Why are you doing this?"_

_"I've already told you, I'm someone who cares."_

"Someone who cares…"

Nick would never leave Rose to raise a child on her own, deep down she knew this to be true. But first she had to tell him that she was going to have one.

"He'll call soon… and then I'll tell him."

But Nick didn't call, at first Rose thought this was just because he was on his mission, but since she met him it had never taken this long. Soon a few weeks became half a dozen and counting, and still no word. It made Rose think about the night she and Nick finally found the chimera. He was injured in the fight and she had to treat his wounds. It was the first time she had seen all the scars on his body.

"_Where did you get all of these?"_

"_It comes with the job."_

Rose was then tormented by images of Nick lying hurt or worse somewhere.

"Please God… don't let him be dead."


	3. Hormones

Time seemed to have become a steady blur of nothing. Rose couldn't stop thinking about what could have happened to Nick, or the fact that she was carrying his baby. Another month had passed and she still hadn't heard any word from him. She just couldn't stand it. She needed to get out of Reole and talk to someone… anyone. Fortunately there was someone who surely must understand at least a little bit of the situation she was in. A few year ago Rose met Winry Rockbell when Alphonse Elric paid another visit to Reole, and they became fast friends. Rose could tell almost immediately that Winry had a special relationship with Ed, whom Rose knew was always off and about doing who knew what. Perhaps Winry could shed a little light on her problems, or at least help her talk it out. Despite the fact that it was a hot summer day in Resembool, Rose did not expect to find Winry wearing a white sun dress, with her being an automail mechanic.

"There you are!" said Winry giving her a hug "Long time no see, how is everything?"

"Boy do I have a story to tell you."

Rose was careful to leave out the part how she attempted to kill herself, instead she told Winry that during the riots in Reole several men tried to rape her and Nick came to her rescue.

"Was it love at first sight?"

"Not exactly. I was just relieved that not all men are animals."

Rose had been careful enough to rehearse this story beforehand. She said that Nick had been a traveler that just happened to be in town when everything went to hell, and that he stayed to protect her until things calmed down.

"And one night you just decided to have sex with him?"

"I don't know what happened… It was hot that night, I had just got out of the shower, I was only wearing a robe, he was there and… it just felt right."

"And…"

"Ever since that night he comes into town every once in a while and we… fool around."

"You never talked about him before."

"I wasn't sure just how I felt about him before… Now something's happened."

Winry had noticed that Rose had gained a little weight, but hadn't said anything. Now it was coming together.

"Are you pregnant?"

Rose didn't need a mood swing to start crying, but it came anyway.

"Yes! And it's been too months since I last saw or heard from him! What if he isn't coming back? What if he's found someone else? What if he's dead?"

It was a whole fifteen minutes before Rose stopped crying.

"Shh… it's okay." said Winry trying to calm her "I'm sure he's fine. Ed and Al are off on their adventures all the time, and I'm lucky if I ever get a single phone call."

"I can't go back to Reole… not right now… if I have to spend another night alone at home I think I'm going to lose it."

"I understand. Stay as long as you'd like."

Rose left a note at home for Nick telling him where she was just in case he came by, but she never heard from him. Winry could tell that pregnancy was really beginning to take its toll on Rose. Whenever she slept at night it was always in the nude, at first Winry thought it was because of the heat, but then she noticed that she was also rubbing her breasts under her clothes at random times, and then she would lock herself in her room and Winry would hear moaning.

"It's the hormones isn't it?" she asked as Rose was once again rubbing her breasts.

"I can't help it… I haven't seen my Nicky in over a month, it's so hot, and I just feel so… horny."

"Believe it or not, I might know just the thing to help with that." replied Winry getting up from her work table.

Rose waited while Winry got cleaned up, and then she came down with a couple towels.

"What are those for?"

"We're going swimming."

"Where? In the river?"

"Nope, I know a place much more suitable."

Amestris was nowhere near the ocean, and as far as Rose knew the only sizable source of water in the region was the Rain River, but as she and Winry made their way across the countryside she wasn't thinking about that. It hadn't felt so hot since the day she walked into the desert. She could feel the sweat trickling down her back and could feel her cheeks getting warmer by the minute. She wanted nothing more than to just slip out of the sleeveless dress she was wearing. Winry led her along until they came to the woods, they walked along a dirt road until they came to a group of rocks covered with foliage. A nearby tree was marked with the same symbol Rose remembered seeing on the back of Ed's jacket.

"Here we are." said Winry shifting some of the foliage and revealing a cave entrance.

"What is this place?"

"I've always wanted my own swimming pool, but it was never really in the budget. So I had the boys cook this place up with their alchemy."

After climbing down some stairs they came to a pool that was easily twenty meters long. As Winry lit the torches to illuminate the chamber she noticed that something was missing.

"We didn't bring any bathing suits."

"We won't need any; no one ever comes out here."

First Winry let her hair down, then Rose watched as she took her clothes off like it was the most natural thing in the world. Rose had never seen another woman naked before, that combined with the hormones her pregnancy was causing stirred a weird feeling in her. When Winry jumped into the pool and came up out of the water she looked like a beautiful mermaid.

"Aren't you going to join me?"

No matter how shy she may have been, Rose just couldn't stand it anymore. She slipped out of her dressed and kicked it aside.

"Motherhood suits you." said Winry "You look amazing."

"You think so?"

"Sure, come on in, the water's fine."

Rose and Winry spent the better part the next couple hours swimming, then they went outside to dry off in the sun.

"We've just spent the past few hours just playing around naked." said Winry.

"I feel so silly."

"I know, isn't it great? I just feel so at one with nature."

"You're positive no one ever comes out here?"

"No one. Now don't you feel better?"

"A little…"

"Don't worry, if he cares for you as much as you say he does, then he'll come back."

**(To be concluded)**


	4. Retirement

Rose stayed with Winry a for about two weeks, until the day Ed unexpectedly walked in when Winry was massaging Rose's breasts, because her impending motherhood was making them sore.

"Holy shit…"

"This isn't what it looks like!"

"… It's not?"

A second later Ed found a wrench in his forehead.

"And just why do you sound disappointed?!"

Rose just couldn't stand to be around a couple like Ed and Winry while she was still yet to hear from Nick. When she finally got home to Reole she found there was a whole vase of flowers waiting for her, along with a note.

_Rosey_

_I can understand that you're mad at me, and you have every right to be, but there's something I need you to understand. While I was out I was wounded, and spent the better part of the next month unconscious. When I finally came to I found that I had lost my left arm and eye. When I was finally done recovering I spent the rest of these past few weeks trying to figure out how to tell you. If you can still find it in your heart to love someone like me, meet me at our tree._

Rose was off like a light. The tree in question was the one where he once surprised her with a kiss. As soon as she saw him her heart almost skipped a beat. At first she was completely oblivious to the fact that he was missing an arm and wearing an eye patch, she just rushed up and kissed him.

"My god, I've been so worried about you! What happened?!"

"It didn't quite go according to plan to say the least. You don't want to know… but the good news is it gave me a lot of time to think about our relationship. I've been doing this little crusade a very long time… I think I've done my part, and I'm ready to settle down."

"You don't know how glad I am to hear that."

"Not to be rude but… have you gained weight?"

Rose pulled him close and whispered in his ear.

"Why didn't you say that in the first place?!"

"This is why you need to give me a number to call."

"You don't need to worry about that anymore. I'm not going anywhere."

"Is your other arm fine?"

"Yes…"

"Good because I need you to do something for me."

"I do owe you dinner and a show."

"It can wait, right now I need something else."

Rose took Nick back to her place where she made him give her a full body massage. Having the man she loved tough her like that was enough to relieve even the tension brought about by pregnancy.

"Well done sir…"

"Motherhood really suits you."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?"

"Probably because it's true."

"It's too bad our child is going to have a father who has one arm and one eye."

"Well I don't know what to do about your eye, but I do know a good automail mechanic."

**(The End)**

**Okay I admit it, I didn't really try with this one. I just couldn't get the story out of my head, and by the time I got to this chapter I was running on fumes. I promise I'll try and make it up to you with my next fanfic.**


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